LITA Top Technology Trends - 2010

Each year at the American Library Association annual conference, Library Information Technology Association (LITA) sponsors a wildly popular program on Technology Trends. It is hard to capture all the rapidly stated ideas, especially without images or more background, but here are June 2010 highlights by Mike Diaz:

OPENING: Gregg Sylvis, Chair for the LITA Top Trends Committee kicked off the session. Six panelists were each to address current trends, imminent trends and long term trends (3-5 years out).

• John Blyberg, Darien Library (CT), Assistant Director for Innovation and User Experience
• Lorcan Dempsey, Vice President OCLC Research and Chief Strategist, OCLC
• Jason Griffey, Head of Library Information Technology, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
• Monique Sendze, IT Director Johnson County Library, Overland Park, Kansas
• Cindy Trainor, Coordinator for Library Technology and Data Services, Eastern Kentucky University
• Joan Frye Williams, IT Consultant

CURRENT TRENDS

Blyberg discussed the new world of ”multilevel convergent media.”

• With the explosion of new devices and communication channels, people are finding new ways to describe, explain, and interact with the world around them, and the boundaries between personal and professional domains have been blurring.
• This has paved the way for a move to devices that are optimized across multiple applications to support diverse communication and information sharing needs.
• Now it is becoming possible to reach a new point of synergy where the total impact across applications is becoming greater than the sum of its parts. For example, writing a research paper is not a very good experience on the iPhone but the iPad will work well for this and across many other critical applications.

Dempsey called out some of the changes relating to mobile devices and their implications.

• Much of the early development for mobile devices has related to the direct translation of the web applications to a mobile environment.Now there are opportunities to look at how services can be atomized and reconfigured.
• The web experience can be tied to physical locations, as with the QR codes found at the ProQuest booth.
• There is also the phenomenon of “microcoordination” or checking in to better manage space and logistical challenges. For example, a quick call or IM can now be used to change the time or location of a personal or business meeting on the fly.

Griffey talked about how content is no longer tied to a container.

• In the past, the container (book, journal, etc.) has defined how the information has been consumed and displayed.
• Now we are starting to see “container sans interface.” For example, users now expect the library catalog to look like Google, with less emphasis on the various types of information containers.
• Use of iPad with touch screen does not focus the user on containers but just surfaces the information.
• He feels that the touch screen is setting a new interface standard for browsing and exploring content, noting that after showing his iPad to his two-year-old daughter, she started to touch the screen of their TV expecting it to behave in the same way.

Sendze discussed the importance of libraries responding to the rapid evolution of mobile technologies in order to stay relevant to their users.

• It is applications and software that make iPhone different from competing devices and this will also distinguish the iPad from its emerging competitors.
• Libraries need to move aggressively into mobile applications and software as increasingly users will be coming to the library expecting to use their own devices rather than the library’s computers.

Trainor surfaced an increased emphasis user-driven collection development.

• Libraries need to be more about getting people to things rather than owning them.
• Many libraries were adding a complete set of MARC records from an ebook provider and then buying the books that they do not have in response to user demand.

Williams surfaced many of the changes that are being driven by the current economic environment.

• Economic dislocations have been the genesis of a new creative economy. There has been an explosion of everything from niche researchers to pastry chefs. Typically, these business startups are hyper-local and home based.
• Libraries need to explore what can be done to create an optimal environment for these users. This is a significant change in mindset because being an incubator for these enterprises means supporting the messy, iterative activity that is needed to spark creativity.
• Rather than focusing on serving up content, libraries need to focus on being the foundation for a creative process. It is akin to moving from a grocery store to a kitchen mentality.

IMMINENT TRENDS

Williams talked about the blurring between object descriptions and the actual object.

• There is a new practice called “fabbing” where 3D descriptions are facilitating the creation of the referenced object. This means that the line is blurring between comprehensive information about a thing and the thing itself.
• Librarians to find new ways manage recall and rights for 3D e-versions of things, because the e-world of libraries is flatter than the real world is.
• Librarians typically have not developed these types of design sensibilities needed to manage these e-objects effectively because the library world has traditionally been so text based.

Trainor called out the FaceBook privacy backlash and its implications.

• Openness in terms of technology and ideas could be impacted as many people are being more thoughtful about sharing their personal information.
• At the same time, there is an important piece of our cultural heritage that could be lost as it is not clear who if anyone would be in a position to preserve the rich tapestry of information that has been posted on Facebook.

Sendze talked about changes as more and more library technology infrastructure moves into the Cloud.

• This change has the potential to be very disruptive.
• It could significantly reduce library back room IT needs and it will likely mean that the IT function will need to be more embedded in the day-to-day work of library.

Griffey signaled the potential disruptive effects of low-cost e-Readers.

• Citing recent price drops for the Kindle and the Nook , $99 eInk reading devices could be a possibility in the upcoming holiday season.
• Low-cost or even disposable devices could ultimately be married with ebook content that is freely available on the web.

Dempsey talked about how new discovery layers are helping libraries to overcome the fragmentation of library resources.

• Users appreciate a Google-like single search box and faceted results, and they typically perceive that everything in the collection has been surfaced, while there are generally opportunities to expand elements of the collection that are made available in this fashion.
• There are also many other opportunities to surface content outside of the library collection such as Google Scholar and Google Books.
• A third dimension is surfacing resources not in the current collection that could be made available through Patron-driven ILL or on-demand purchasing.

Blyberg used Seth Godin’s term “the dip” to stage his prediction of new struggles with open source software.

• He indicated that many open source library projects were hitting a point where success reaches a plateau and progress gets harder and harder to achieve.
• Funding is one issue since library budgets are under significant stress and while grants have often provided for startup costs, they are typically not funding ongoing costs.
• Also, he indicated that open source solutions have in many cases failed to keep pace with the features and functionality offered by commercial vendors.

LONG TERM TRENDS

Griffey singled out 4G cellular infrastructure and its power to transform mobile applications.

• With speeds of 100 Megabits per second, it will provide ethernet capacity in your pocket.
• He talked about a new small rapid scanner developed in Japan that could ultimately allow quick scanning and OCR of Encyclopedia Brittanica or Oxford English Dictionary by a mobile device.
• Libraries will need to be prepared for these types of technology shifts in order to manage implications for library services and copyright.

Sendze anticipates an acceleration of profiling and the death of Internet anonymity.

• Users are freely giving over their personal information to search engines and these commercial providers are doing profiling and predictive analysis.
• Libraries are still focused on protecting user privacy, despite the fact that lots of data is now available that can be used to enhance the experience of their users.
• Users likely trust libraries to safeguard their personal information a lot more than they do commercial vendors and users will likely be open to their personal information being used to anticipate needs and to enhance their experience with the library.

Trainor predicted that ultimately physical copy scarcity would be gone.

• As the abundance of information continues to grow, scarcity is manifesting itself in new areas such as bandwidth. Libraries should be helping to bridge these gaps for the benefit of all their users and society at large.
• In the end, it will also be up to libraries to add value in new ways rather than just securing content. As an example, changes will be needed in library instruction when the only service point is the web and users are getting most of the resources they need for free.

Williams drew a comparison between the information industry and the energy industry.

• Similarities stem from the relationship between the suppliers and their customers in both sectors.
• Libraries are acting like niche green technology companies that are blazing down a new path, often propelled by grant funding. They are committed to building their own “information ecosystem” that is self-contained and pure and free from contaminants, like a locally-owned, socially conscious information utility.
• Resource and technology challenges abound and it is difficult to sustain investments in technology infrastructure for the long term.
• One potential impact could be an epidemic of “dataspills” that involves sensitive or personal information and potentially even crackdowns by the government.

Blyberg discussed the future transformations that are being driven by current economic pressures.

• Current economic pressures have brought a “come to Jesus moment” for all libraries.
• Many libraries have had to admit that they have very inefficient backend processes where significant benefits can be achieved through automation and process improvements.
• Libraries are discovering that they can still be true to what it means to be a library while sharpening their focus on transforming the user experience.

Dempsey called for a shift for libraries from managing supply to managing demand.

• He talked about the complex suite of systems and relationships for supplying information that are driving overhead and keeping libraries from focusing more of their energies on the user experience.
• Greater focus will be needed on the demand side such as helping users rank, relate, or recommend items.
• Embedding resources in research environments and courseware and building community around library resources will also derive significant benefits by integrating library resources into user workflows.
• Libraries also need to focus on sparking indirect discovery through surfacing Google material, curation and management of institutional outputs (IRs, etc), and search engine optimization.
• Only with continued focus on the demand side can libraries get to the ultimate desired state – where the mission of the library has become helping users to manage their own library.